The Women of the Princes in the Tower Mystery

The recent Channel Five documentary on the deaths of the Princes in the Tower was another step towards unravelling the events of the summer of 1483. Richard, Duke of Gloucester intercepted the young Edward V on his journey to London, lodging him - and eventually also his brother Richard Duke of York - in the Tower of London. Just months later the boys were moved to increasingly secure premises and at some point could no longer be seen playing in the fortress' precincts. Their uncle, who found cause to declare the boys illegitimate, was then crowned King Richard III in young Edward's place. 

The mystery has enthralled readers for centuries. But what was startling for me was that what Tracy Borman called 'the smoking gun' in the new research into the case was a record left by a generally 'forgotten' woman. We read about Sir James Tyrrell, Henry Tudor and Richard III himself and their connections to the princes' disappearance - but what about the women involved in the case? 

Elizabeth Woodville

Pic: Charles Grignion, Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Queen of England and the princes' mother, Elizabeth Woodville was the ambitious, intelligent and politically-savvy queen of Edward IV. She was married in a secret and scandalous wedding to Edward IV in 1464, which was apparently motivated by love rather than the interest of the country, which upset a number of Edward's nobles at the time. Regardless, she was a dutiful and strong-willed queen, who bore the king ten children. On Edward IV's death, she took her children into sanctuary in Westminster Abbey and began a strategic game of cat and mouse with her brother-in-law. Ordering Edward V's move from Ludlow to London in the company of her brother Sir Anthony Woodville, Richard quickly intercepted them at Stony Stratford, and took custody of the prince lodging him in the Tower on reaching the capital. Elizabeth was also soon surrounded by armed guards at Westminster, and was urged to give up her other son, Richard Duke of York, to the Duke of Gloucester. Contemporary accounts have her clearly emotional at the loss of both her young boys, and Elizabeth must have sensed that she was losing control, fearful too of her and her children's' safety. During Richard's reign, after rumours of the princes' deaths were being discussed in taverns and ale houses, she secretly conspired with Margaret Beaufort, Henry Tudor's mother, to bring Tudor over to England and establish him - and her daughter Elizabeth of York, as his queen. Elizabeth doubled up her mother's efforts and Richard was indeed defeated by Tudor at Bosworth in 1485. Elizabeth Woodville lived to see her daughter as queen, and retired at Bermondsey Abbey. She died in 1492.

Anne Neville

The daughter of Richard Earl of Warwick and his wife Anne Beauchamp, Anne was the wife of Richard III. They were crowned together at Westminster in July 1483. Anne had married Richard soon after the loss of her father at the Battle of Barnet in 1471, and knew her husband from her own childhood, the York and Warwick families particularly close during the Wars of the Roses. Anne has been portrayed as a weak-willed, depressed and tragic queen, particularly by nineteenth-century writers such as Agnes Strickland, but evidence does suggest that she was an active consort, politically agile and willing to intervene in civic affairs. Also we should consider her role models. As a young girl she would have observed the conspiracies, grasping of power and resilience of women such as Alice Montacute, Cecily Neville and Margaret Beauchamp - as well as her own mother of course. There is comparatively little evidence for Anne's reign and personality but it is inconceivable that she knew nothing of the fate of the princes or her husband's thoughts on their disappearance. She died in early 1485.

Margaret Beaufort 

Margaret was the mother of Henry Tudor, the man who became king after Richard III's death at Bosworth. She was a savvy politician, managing during the Wars of the Roses to gain the trust of the house of both Lancaster and York. Even Richard III, when he found her secretly aiding her son in exile in Brittany, 'punished' her by telling her husband simply to keep a better eye on her. She was present during negotiations in her son Henry VII's reign, and co-ordinated policies and decisions along with Elizabeth of York. Her hands-on approach has attracted some theories surrounding her own involvement in the disappearance of the princes, some people regarding her as a suspect. However there is very little real evidence for this. 

Eleanor Butler

When the princes' royal legitimacy was denounced at St Paul's in 1483, Eleanor Butler was at the centre of the claim. It was reported that Edward IV had married Eleanor Butler in the early 1460s, before his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, making the latter marriage illegal, along with any children created from the union. Back in the fifteenth century weddings did not always involve showy events, register signing and vows recited in front of family members. It was possible to simply declare yourself married to one another before consummating the relationship and the marriage was legally binding. Even worse, it was said even during Edward's lifetime that he had used this tactic to sleep with women, disappearing off into the sunrise afterwards. Sadly, Eleanor was unable in 1483 to corroborate this new claim; she died in 1468. Although there are problems with this claim - both Eleanor and Edward married other people without legal work to annul their own so-called marriage, and both were conveniently dead at the time - Eleanor Butler had a crucial, if posthumous, part to play in the case against the boys' legitimacy, leading to their imprisonment and later, their disappearance. 

Cecily Neville, Duchess of York

Cecily was the matriarch of the York family in the Wars of the Roses. The wife of Richard, Duke of York, and mother to Edward IV, George Duke of Clarence and Richard Duke of Gloucester. Another son, Edmund, was killed in battle aged just seventeen, before Edward IV seized the crown. They also had a number of daughters that would be influential in the Wars. However, on the death of her son Edward IV in 1483, Cecily seems to have watched Richard's political efforts in silence.  She saw Richard's allies not only claim her grandsons were illegitimate, but that Edward himself had been the son of an archer and not the son of the Duke of York. Again, she would have known too if Edward had contracted himself to Eleanor Butler. It is interesting that in spite of slurs against her son's children, herself, her late husband and her late son, she watched as Richard, her youngest son, became king. Just to clarify - there is no evidence of Cecily's involvement in the disappearance of her grandsons, but that she didn't speak out during this period is interesting and hints that she supported the accession of Richard as king. She died in 1495.

Elizabeth of York

Daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was a diligent queen and an active consort to Henry VII. Evidence suggests that she played a large role in securing her position during Richard's reign. As the elder sister of both the princes, it is interesting to speculate as to whether she was consulted about the so-called 'pretenders' who claimed to be either the princes or her cousins, in particular Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard of York, the younger prince. It was also interesting that Tracy Borman mentioned that Elizabeth was with Henry at the Tower during James Tyrell's confession that he had ordered the princes' deaths in 1483. She then went to see her aunt immediately afterwards. This may demonstrate that Elizabeth knew more of her brothers' fates than she has previously been given credit for. Of course, she may also have been at the Tower to corroborate descriptions of the princes and other information given by Tyrell to substantiate his claims. While other writers have maintained that the couple visited the Tower's royal apartments, it is of course possible that they also witnessed the trial. Elizabeth died in 1503.

Joanna Forest and Anne Arundel

Two men were said, in Tyrrell's confession, to have put the princes to death: Miles Forest and John Dighton, acting under Tyrrell's orders. Sir Thomas More recorded the substance of the tale, and that the princes were smothered by the two men. But what of their wives? Anne Arundel was the wife of James Tyrrell - what did she know of her husbands' orders and roles at this time? If Tyrrell's confession of the princes' murder was spilled to ease the guilty conscience of a man facing execution for another offence, it could suggest that he also reached out to his wife during their marriage, to ease his spiritual burden. And as for Miles Forest, the documentary linked his son to Sir Thomas More, who knew about the confession, as well as evidence from Tyrrel's sister in law's will. In another twist, the historian Thomas Penn in the book The Brothers York highlighted an unusual and generous payment Richard III made to Joanna Forest, Miles' widow, in 1484, raising questions about what these 'forgotten' women really knew about the politics and conspiracies of the later Wars of the Roses.

Katherine Woodville, Duchess of Buckingham

Katherine was the sister of Elizabeth Woodville, and secured a marriage with the Duke of Buckingham Henry Stafford when the pair were very young. It was engineered as an attempt to disperse members of the queen's family into prestigious families of England generating wealth, influence and power. In 1483, Henry Stafford was one of those loyal to Richard Duke of Gloucester, even assisting him in his path to the crown. However in the late summer of 1483 Buckingham rebelled against the king, one of the motives rumoured to have been confusion over the disappearance of the princes in the Tower. Henry had young sons of his own, and Katherine took steps to protect her eldest son in the wake of her husband's rebellion, hiding him in rural Hereford, fearful that punishment would be carried out on their children. Henry Stafford is sometimes considered another suspect in the disappearance of the princes, having a later change of heart and rebelling against Richard. However his rebellion was quickly put down and he was executed. What did Katherine and Henry Stafford know of the princes? He was involved in the overthrow of Edward V, and influential in Richard of Gloucester's rise as king. And what made Katherine so fearful of threats being taken out on her eldest son? Katherine remained a widow until 1485 when she was married to Henry Tudor's (now Henry VII) uncle, Jasper Tudor. She died in 1497.

Margaret Capell

This is the woman on which the 'smoking gun' of the case leans. For transparency's sake, I don't think it's actually a smoking gun, but is an interesting twist in the story that certainly adds weight to Thomas More's version of events. Margaret was the sister in law of James Tyrrell, and in her will in the early sixteenth century, bequeathed a chain that had once belonged to the young Edward V. If this was Edward's chain of office, which the wording suggests, this was a very personal item that denoted his status, power and rank, and would not have been given up to anyone lightly. We have to wonder where the chain ended up. Nonetheless, it is more evidence that links Edward V to James Tyrell and for that, should be considered seriously.

In conclusion, for me, the documentary added weight to Sir Thomas More's account of the Princes in the Tower mystery, but we still can't definitively say what happened either way. For the record, I lean towards the princes being murdered on Richard's orders, but I don't believe Richard was the one-dimensional villain he's often made out to be. Ruthlessness, brutality and cunning were all traits needed from a successful medieval king, and we need to place Richard in his time. We know that he was loyal, decisive and brutal when he needed to be, but he also placed his queen in a central role and was generous to visiting diplomats. As I say, the only thing I do believe is that we'll never really know the truth.

What do you think? Have I missed any other women? 

Interested in finding more women working, raising families and navigating the treachery of the Wars of the Roses? Check out my book, Forgotten Women of the Wars of the Roses, published by Pen and Sword Books. Order your copy here. 

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